Cleveland Indians' Nick Swisher does a little bat tapping around the batting cage before Saturday's spring training game in San Diego. / Lenny Ignelzi/AP

Written by

Jon Spencer

CentralOhio.com

Grady Sizemore, who makes Kyrie Irving look indestructible, is the Opening Day center fielder for the Boston Red Sox. Meanwhile, the guy who was supposed to make Indians fans forget Sizemore opens the season on the disabled list.

Of course.

You wonder why it’s been 50 years since a Cleveland sports franchise previously won a major championship.

Seeing Sizemore healthy — and hitting an Opening Day homer — and Michael Bourn hurt is a lot to digest right off the bat. But if the 2013 season taught us anything, it’s to not make sense of anything.

A new season is upon us and I’m still wondering if the Indians overachieved or underachieved in 2013.

No one expected them to win 92 games, even with Terry Francona and his Midas touch in charge.

They saw their only bonafide power hitter, Mark Reynolds, go from boom to bust so quickly he was released halfway through the season. Bourn and Nick Swisher — their two biggest free agent signees — had sub-par years, as did shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera. They could have hung an unoccupied sign at third base and closer Chris Perez’s arm finally matched his head and went haywire.

On the plus side, reclamation projects Ubaldo Jimenez and Scott Kazmir combined to win 24 games, with Jimenez — who will rue the day he left Cleveland pitching coach Mickey Callaway — arguably the best American League starter after the All-Star break.

Speaking of All-Stars, Jason Kipnis became one, outfielder Michael Brantley took steps toward becoming one and catcher Yan Gomes turned small news on the transaction wire into a big acquisition with his work behind and at the plate. Ryan Rayburn and Mike Aviles — members of the “Goon Squad” with Gomes and currently disabled Jason Giambi — gave the Indians their best bench in years.

But if Swisher starts making fireworks for the fans instead of buying them, Bourn finds new life in his tread-worn wheels and everyone else picks up where they left off in 2013, is it realistic to think that:

• The Indians can go 30-17 again in one-run games? Only the Yankees, at 30-16, were better.

• Match a major-league best 10-2 record in extra-inning games in 2013?

• Post 11 walk-off wins compared to only two walk-off losses?

• Win 10 straight at the end to make the playoffs?

Seems like a lot to ask, especially with “Who” still at third, a new closer in John Axford whose failures in 2013 made Perez look like Mariano Rivera and a starting rotation with only one pitcher — Justin Masterson — who has spent a full season in the majors.

Signing players looking for bounce-back seasons such as Axford and outfielder David Murphy and crossing your fingers might be the business model for small-budget teams such as Cleveland. But without a fertile farm system, you can’t consistently compete that way.

“Who was the MVP last season?” Underwood said. “Good luck picking one. Every guy had a big hit at some point. That’s what’s fun about this group. It’s not driven by a superstar. They show up, they play together and they play hard.”

No question, the Indians have one of the best managers in the game in Francona. Pitcher Danny Salazar, with 100 mph heat, could be special. Knowing the payoff will be a big payday should be all the incentive Masterson and Cabrera need to have career years.

But I look at third base and see a canyon.

I don’t have a lot of faith in Lonnie “Last Chance” Chisenhall. As much as I dislike Carlos Santana behind the plate, I worry about his conversion to third occupying his every thought and hurting his focus at bat. He hit .186 this spring. Reynolds, comfortable at DH, stopped hitting when the Indians plopped him at third.

I’ll never understand sending Josh Tomlin to Triple-A Columbus after the spring he had. When your margin for error is small to begin with, setting your roster by who does or doesn’t have options left is baffling.

I leave it to Cleveland VP Bob DiBiasio, the eternal optimist, to lift me from my doldrums.

“The Yankees went out this offseason and spent $500 million. It doesn’t matter to us,” DiBiasio said. “The Seattle Mariners spent $240 million over the next 10 years to one player, Robinson Cano. It doesn’t matter to us.

“The only thing that matters to us is what the Tigers, Twins, White Sox and Royals do. If we win our division, we’ll play in October. And I want you to know that since 1995, we have a winning record against the Yankees in October.”

I feel a little bit better. But Detroit still has two Cy Young Award winners in their rotation and the best and best paid hitter in baseball in Miguel Cabrera.

“The Tigers have a new manager, a new coaching staff, they lost one of the main guys in the rotation (Doug Fister) and they lost Prince Fielder,” DiBiasio said. “And all we know is that the last three MVPs (Ryan Braun and Cabrera twice) had Prince Fielder hitting behind them.”